The author suggest that our current conceptual model of software engineering, nightly builds and product architecture should probably be replaced with that of writing a novel:

The problem is that software isn’t built; it’s written. The final product is not like the Bay Bridge. It’s like a novel.

He suggests that the engineers are the authors and product managers are the editors. And then he makes another very striking point:

Perhaps most importantly, the authors and editors need to work together to determine when the novel is finished. Unlike a bridge, you never put in the last rivet and make the last weld. You can always revise a novel. The question is, will the novel be better or worse off for the change?

This analogy of writing a novel really resonates with my experience of creating software:

 Product development is an art, and not a science.

Link: Don’t build. Compose. — on startups — Medium via medium.com